


Pookie

by iwannafucktheguitarist



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, M/M, it's cute ok, of course it's cute it's calum with a dog how could it not be cute, they adopt a dog together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-10-31
Packaged: 2018-04-29 03:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5114864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwannafucktheguitarist/pseuds/iwannafucktheguitarist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>after they take a shortcut through a dog park on their way to the studio, calum wants a dog of his own. ashton has never been very good at saying no to calum.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pookie

**Author's Note:**

> i have no idea how this happened. originally posted on tumblr [here](http://salt-were-goin-up.tumblr.com/post/131795632150/pookie).

“Calum, come on, we’re going to be late,” Ashton says for what seems like the fiftieth time.

“No we’re not, Ash, jeez. We’ve still got…” Calum looks at the time on his phone. “Shit, you’re right, we are going to be late.”

“Well, come on, then.”

They really picked a bad day to walk to the studio, Ashton thinks as they head out. But it’s a nice day out, and there’s no need to drive when you can walk. As they’re walking, he realizes that if they cut through a park next to them, their walk will be a lot shorter.

“Hey, Calum, let’s go through here,” Ashton says. He realizes his mistake as they walk into the park. A dog park. Oh no.

“Oh my god, Ashton, look at all the dogs!” Calum exclaims, going over to pet a large gray dog, probably a mastiff or something. He crouches down next to it and it rolls over and he rubs its tummy. It wags its tail. Calum looks at the dog’s tag. “Her name is Daisy. Isn’t that cute?”

“Calum, we’re supposed to be at the studio in five minutes.”

“But Ash, look at all the dogs!” Calum gets up, and Daisy whines disappointedly as he goes over to a black pug and picks it up and cuddles it.

“Where are all the owners?” Ashton wonders aloud.

“Dunno. But look at this little guy!” Calum holds the pug out, and Ashton has to admit it is kind of cute. Ashton pats the dog’s head, shaking his head at Calum’s antics. Calum holds the pug the way you’re supposed to hold a newborn, rubbing its tummy and looking down on it fondly.

“Calum, we really need to go. We can come back here after we get done recording, okay?” Ashton says, hoping the promise of coming back will be enough to get Calum to go with him.

“Okay,” Calum says sadly, pouting a bit, but he puts the pug back on the ground.

 

As soon as they get done at the studio, Calum’s running back to the dog park, pulling a bemused Ashton by the hand. Ashton laughs at his boyfriend’s childish antics and allows himself to be dragged along.

When they get to the dog park, Calum’s face breaks into a huge grin and he looks around, going over to where a chocolate lab is playing with a tennis ball. He takes the tennis ball and throws it a couple times, the lab wagging its tail and bounding after it each time, dropping it at his feet when it brings it back. He looks at the lab’s tag. “Clover. That’s a nice name.” He scratches behind her ears and her tail thuds against the ground. Ashton looks at him fondly. “Ashton, we should get a dog,” Calum says excitedly.

“What are we going to do with it when we’re on tour?” Ashton asks.

“We didn’t have a problem with RJ,” Calum points out. “C’mon Ash, pleeeaaaseee?” He looks at Ashton with his eyes wide, lip quivering a bit.

“Oh god, not the puppy eyes,” Ashton says, looking away.

Calum then literally starts whimpering.

“Okay, we can get a dog,” Ashton caves. He really needs to get better at saying no to Calum.

“Yes!”

 

They go to the animal shelter and look at the dogs. Calum’s looking at all of the dogs, and Ashton knows that Calum really wants to take all of them home. He sighs.

“Hey, Cal, why don’t you look at this one,” he says, pointing to a pudgy little bulldog puppy that looks like it’s barely old enough to be adoptable.

“Oh, my god, it’s so cute! I just want all of them! I feel bad just taking one and leaving all the others behind,” Calum says.

“Calum, babe, you can’t take all the dogs home.”

“I know that. I just don’t like seeing them all in these cages not being able to go anywhere or play or anything.” Calum looks so sad, and Ashton hates to see the younger boy upset, but they really can’t get more than one dog. They probably shouldn’t even be getting a dog, but he can’t say no to Calum.

Ashton wraps his arms around Calum and sighs. “Look, I know you don’t like seeing them all cooped up like this, but we really can only get one, and a small one at that. We’ll adopt one of them, and then we can donate to the shelter. How’s that?”

“Okay,” Calum agrees. “Yeah, that one’s cute,” he says in reference to the dog Ashton had pointed out, “but look over here. This one’s old, and people never adopt the old ones; everyone wants a puppy. And it’s so fluffy!” He leads Ashton over to a cage where a small dog is curled up in a corner. The plaque on the cage says that she’s seven years old and her name is Moxie.

“Calum that’s a pomeranian. They’re, like, the kind of dogs that girls carry around in purses and shit. Plus they’re usually really yippy,” Ashton says, beginning to regret telling Calum they could get a dog at all. The dog growls at Ashton as he looks at it. “And it doesn’t like me!”

“Okay, fine. Sorry, Moxie,” he tells the dog, looking genuinely hurt at having to leave her there. “What about this one?”

Ashton looks where Calum’s pointing and… “What part of ‘We have to get a small dog’ don’t you understand?” he asks, looking at the German shepherd in disbelief.

“Sorry. But look at him! His name is Sarge. He’s so cute!”

“Calum, think about how we’d fit a thirty-kilogram dog in the tour bus.”

“Oh...yeah that could be a problem.”

“You think? What about this little guy?” Ashton suggests, pointing out a black and tan dachshund whose face is starting to turn grey. “You said you wanted an older one; this guy’s eight. His name is Rocko.”

“I dunno, I like this one,” Calum says, pointing out a tiny Yorkshire terrier. He bends down and looks at it. “She’s cute. She’s six years old and her name is Pookie.”

“You want a dog named Pookie?” Ashton asks, not quite sure he heard correctly.

“Well, I’m not the one who named her,” Calum says defensively. “But her name is Pookie. So yes, I do want a dog named Pookie.”

Ashton runs his hand through his hair. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this,” he mutters, then says aloud, “Okay, so you’re sure you want to adopt...Pookie.”

“Yes.”

“Can we call her something else, at least?” Ashton begs. What kind of person names their dog Pookie? Then again, they are in LA. It probably belonged to some rich old lady or something.

“But she answers to Pookie already,” Calum points out. “And she’s six years old, so renaming her would be a bit of a hassle. I don’t like the name any more than you do, but come on, she’s so sweet! And look, it says she’s pad-trained.”

“Alright,” Ashton says, getting the attention of the worker. “Yeah, we want to adopt, uh...Pookie,” he tells her, cringing as he says the name. Seriously, what kind of a name is that?

“That’s wonderful,” the worker tells him. “She’s been here a while; no one wanted her because of her name.”

“I can see why,” Ashton mumbles and Calum elbows him in the side.

 

On the way back to the house the band are staying in, Ashton decides he’d better call the others and let them know about the dog. Luke picks up on the third ring. “Hello?”

“Okay, so I know this is probably a bad idea…” Ashton begins.

“That’s never a good start to a conversation,” Luke says seriously.

“Okay, so Calum and I took a shortcut through a dog park this morning, and he stopped and petted the dogs of course, and I promised him we could stop by again on the way back, and we did, and he wanted to get a dog, and he did the puppy eyes, Luke, you know I can’t say no to that face! So we kind of...adopted a six-year-old Yorkshire terrier named Pookie.”

“Pookie?” Luke asks incredulously. “You got a dog named Pookie?” Luke starts laughing, and Ashton holds the phone away from his ear for a bit. “Sorry, it’s just...Pookie?”

“The name came with the dog,” Ashton explains. “And Calum really wanted this one, so I decided we’d get her, despite her terrible name. It’s not the dog’s fault her previous owners were morons.”

“True. Okay, well, I’ll let Michael know. Did you buy food or anything?”

“Uh, not yet, no.”

“Great. You really need to learn to say no to Calum, mate.”

“No shit. Alright, we’re heading to the pet store, then we’ll be back.”

 

At the pet store, predictably Calum wants to buy pretty much every toy for Pookie. He looks at the bags of food trying to decide which one would be best. He looks through the collars to find one that “suits her personality” and Ashton just looks on in fond amusement.

He finally decides on a black leather collar with rhinestones on it, and a matching leash. He then buys several bones and stuffed toys and chew toys, along with three shirts, a dress, a raincoat, and boots (who knew they made boots for dogs? Ashton surely didn’t), then buys food and water bowls and a bag of treats and some puppy pads.

Three hundred dollars and six bags full of pet supplies later, they head back to the house.

 

When they get there, they bring Pookie inside and set her down. She immediately starts sniffing around, then starts barking when Luke walks into the room. He leans down and picks her up, and she looks absolutely tiny in his giant hands. “Okay, she is really cute,” he admits. “But really, Ashton? You just randomly got a dog because Calum wanted one? Calum always wants a dog; every time we go anywhere that has dogs, he whines about wanting one.”

“I know but I just couldn’t say no to him!”

“Alright, fine,” Luke says, setting Pookie back down, and she immediately goes back to Calum, who picks her up and holds her as if she’s an infant.

Calum rubs her belly and looks down at her as if she’s his firstborn child or something. Ashton looks at him fondly.

“You’re whipped, bro,” Luke tells Ashton.

Honestly, Ashton agrees.

 

Yip! Yip! Yip!

“Oh, my god, Calum will you please check on the dog,” Ashton says, putting his pillow over his head. It’s 2 AM, and you’d think the dog would have realized it was time to go to bed. They’d set her bed in the living room, and around eight she’d been curled up contentedly, sleeping. Apparently she woke up.

“Sorry, Ash,” Calum says, running a hand through Ashton’s hair then getting up and opening the door to their bedroom. Pookie rushes into the room and looks at the bed, then back at Calum. “Awww, she wants to sleep with her daddies,” Calum coos, bending down and scooping up the ball of fluff and setting her gently on the bed, then lying back down. Pookie curls up against Calum and goes right to sleep.

 

Ashton wakes up with a face full of dog fur. “Calum! Pookie’s laying on my face!”

Calum looks at Ashton, laughs, takes a picture for Twitter, then finally removes the dog from Ashton. “Sorry, Ash.” He cuddles the dog gently, running his fingers through her fur, nuzzling his face against her. “She just likes to snuggle. Don’t you, Pookie?” He holds her like an infant and rubs her belly, and she nuzzles her nose against his bicep, licking the sleeve of his T-shirt.

Ashton rolls his eyes and gets out of bed, going downstairs to get breakfast. Calum comes downstairs still holding the dog and sits down at the kitchen table. “Calum, the dog can’t eat breakfast at the table. She has to eat from her bowl,” Ashton tells him.

Calum frowns but puts the dog down and fills her dish with food. Pookie eats her food while Ashton fixes toast for himself and Calum. As Ashton and Calum eat, Pookie wanders off somewhere.

 

“Calum!” Michael yells from upstairs. He appears in the kitchen a few minutes later carrying Pookie with a disgruntled expression. “She woke me up,” he states.

“You shouldn’t have left your door cracked,” Calum says, shrugging.

“She climbed on me and started licking my eyelids, Calum.”

Calum giggles and Ashton smacks him lightly with his butter knife. “Sorry about that, Michael,” Calum says finally. “Won’t happen again.”

 

Life with a dog is a pretty big adjustment for the band, but it makes Calum happy, and Ashton would kill anyone who made Calum sad, so they really just have to get used to it. Michael and Luke get annoyed when the dog wakes them up in the morning. For that matter, so does Ashton. But Calum loves the dog like she’s his own child, so they all can’t help but love her too.

 

 


End file.
